Delaware River Basin Commission's top regulator listening, learning

Almost a month into his new job, the Delaware River Basin Commission’s top regulator says he’s still in the “listening and learning mode.”

Steven Tambini left his role as vice president of operations for Pennsylvania American Water and took over as the commission’s executive director on Aug. 1. He replaced Carol Collier, who held the position since 1998.

A water supply engineer and planner for 30 years, Mr. Tambini worked in water and wastewater utilities in 11 states, according to his profile on Bloomberg

Businessweek.

“Coming from a regulated community, I definitely have a different perspective,” Mr. Tambini said.

The commission, formed in 1961, and the governors of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware, manages water supply and water quality in the roughly 13,500-square-mile river basin.

The commission’s most controversial issue is its effective moratorium on natural gas development. In May 2010, the commissioners decided they would not approve well pads until the commission adopted regulations on the industry.

Final regulations were published in November 2011, but the commissioners indefinitely postponed their Nov. 21 meeting to vote on the rules. In July 2013, then-commission chairwoman Michele Siekerka, who represented New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, said the agency is still studying the industry’s environmental effects and monitoring baseline conditions in the basin.

Both sides in the battle over gas drilling are closely watching Mr. Tambini’s actions.

In March, following Mr. Tambini’s appointment, Marcellus Shale Coalition President Dave Spigelmyer told The Philadelphia Inquirer the industry group looks forward to working with Mr. Tambini “specifically advancing common sense, workable regulations that permit safe shale development in portions of Northeastern Pennsylvania.“

Last week, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, which opposes drilling, sent a letter asking Mr. Tambini to be as welcoming of their group’s input as they felt Ms. Collier was.

“Private gossip suggests (the Marcellus Shale Coalition) is encouraged by your past affiliation with Pennsylvania American Water, an associate member in the Marcellus Shale Coalition, and hope to find you more sympathetic to its agenda of opening up the basin to shale gas fracking,” director Barbara Arrindell wrote.

Curt Coccodrilli, a Jefferson Twp. resident and leader of the Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance, said his group is “cautiously optimistic that his appointment will lead to a new path at DRBC.”

Collectively, the more than 1,300 alliance members control around 100,000 acres in Susquehanna and Wayne counties. Last summer, multiple gas companies dropped leases in Wayne County after years of inaction by the

commission.

Mr. Coccodrilli’s group has threatened to sue the DRBC for what they see as a violation of their property rights by a regulatory taking of their mineral estates with no compensation. Mr. Coccodrilli said a lawsuit is still approaching if nothing changes.

“I can’t say when, but it’s coming,” he said.

Mr. Tambini did not mention any changes to the de facto moratorium. He did reference some of the monitoring work the commission is doing to establish baseline water quality.

Ultimately, the authority to approve or permanently ban drilling in the basin does not rest with him.

“It is a decision made by the commissioners and they have a lot more history than I do on this subject,” Mr. Tambini said.

In his first weeks as director, he’s been meeting with the commissioners, the DRBC’s internal teams and its advisory committees on managing the river basin that 15 million people rely on for drinking water.

The basin is a high-quality resource, Mr. Tambini said, citing its designation of 197 miles of the non-tidal river from Hancock, New York, to Trenton, New Jersey, as special protection waters.

This designation, done in pieces from 1992 through 2008, brought more stringent water quality requirements, including the need to maintain existing water quality.

The river and its tributaries are extremely diverse, he said.

“Some are urbanized, some are rural,” he said. “You have host of potential water quality issues.”

Contact the writer:

bgibbons@timesshamrock.com, @bgibbonsTT on Twitter

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